Mobile-area community colleges still a bargain, despite double-digit tuition hike

View full sizeDespite a double-digit increase in tuition for Alabama's 2-year colleges, local schools are still a bargain. (file photo)

MOBILE, Alabama -- Despite a double-digit percentage increase in tuition for Alabama’s 2-year colleges, area schools are still a bargain, their presidents said.

The State Board of Education recently voted to raise tuition by almost 16 percent at 2-year schools, from $92 per credit hour to $107 per credit hour. With fees, the total cost to students will be $136 per credit hour.

“We are still affordable,” said Bishop State Community College President James Lowe.

“Even with this increase, we’re still the best bargain,” said Faulkner State Community College President Gary Branch.

The increase, expected to bring in more than $30 million for the two-year system, will take effect in the fall.

That additional revenue still won’t get the colleges back to where they were before proration — across the board state cuts — began in 2006, according to Branch.

In addition to proration, Faulkner has suffered a 27 percent cut in appropriations from the Legislature, which amounts to about $2.1 million, according to Branch. At the same time, Faulkner’s enrollment has boomed by 38.9 percent.

“That’s a phenomenal growth,” Branch said.

Both Bishop and Faulkner are planning for higher enrollments this fall. Nationally, amid a sour economy, many students are heading to higher education to improve job skills or retool for new careers.

Branch said, “There’s no way we could continue to offer quality programs for our students without this tuition increase.”